


Serendipity

by Ianthe (PaganIanthe)



Series: Destined [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-04-25 15:48:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4966912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaganIanthe/pseuds/Ianthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in Sokovia, Steve is looking for some time away, so he heads for Iowa and Clint's farm.  Darcy, meanwhile, has headed home to think over a surprising job offer.  When they keep on bumping into each other things are bound to catch on fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I will be posting this here, and also on my own archive - bewitching-fiction.com (it will be a week ahead there). I blame this on Palmetto Blue (who also helped with the beta), Glitter helped too... :)
> 
> I have a tumblr now, so if you want to see previews/snippets from my other work (and thoughts that are in my jumbled head) go on over: iantheswriting.tumblr.com

It was nearing noon when Darcy finally managed to persuade a reluctant Thor to carry her things down to the car. Neither he nor Jane were massively keen on her plans to drive over a thousand miles alone, but Darcy was nothing if not determined, and she was even more stubborn than a pouting prince when she wanted to do something. She also couldn’t afford to disappoint her mom!

Aware of the frustrated gaze of her friends as they all stood in the driveway, Darcy picked up the last of her suitcases and dumped them in the trunk of her car before hugging Jane tightly. “As soon as you get there you’ve got to call,” she was told rather sternly. The hint of tears lingered in her friend’s voice, she had red eyes, and Darcy knew that if she stayed any longer she would either change her mind, or start sobbing too.

“I know, I know. And if I don’t you’ll set the big guy after me,” her voice a little choked, she nodded in Thor’s direction and managed a small grin when she noticed him simply nodding in agreement. “I promise I’ll call as soon as I get there.” Slamming the trunk loudly she walked over to stand in front of her friends, determined to ignore the fact that Jane was on the verge of tears again. She bussed a kiss across Thor’s cheek, hugged her best friend again and then climbed into the car. After taking a moment to fasten her seatbelt, she tugged the door shut and rolled down the window. “You make sure she remembers to eat, Blondie,” she called as she gave a final wave and pulled out of the drive. 

The trip had been coming for a long while, but there had never seemed enough time to actually go home and see the family; she had suffered through hours of her mom’s guilt-inducing tears and constant demands for video evidence that she was eating properly and hadn’t joined some strange cult or other. She also knew that after the battle of New York, and that awful event in Sokovia, that it would take more than a phone call to confirm that she was all right. They had always been a close family; Culver had been her first taste of freedom and she had been avoiding a visit since long before the incident in New Mexico, using every excuse under the sun to put a stop to the prerequisite journey home. Her mom had a tendency to be more than a little smothering, and she could only cope with it for so long before it drove her nuts.

Cranking up the music on her almost antique tape deck, Darcy sang along to Alanis Morissette as the rust-bucket she called her beloved Honda slowly consumed the miles between Brooklyn and Nowheresville, Iowa, a place she was _proud_ to call home.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Jane asked as Thor wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin lightly on the top of her head. “I know she won’t admit it, but Ian being an all-out rat must’ve hurt.”

“Lady Darcy is a fierce warrior, my Jane. She needs a strong man to be her equal. I could have squashed the rat Ian with one punch of my fist.”

Darcy knew that Jane was blaming the latest in a long line of relationship disasters on her decision to leave, but that was far from the truth; in all honesty, she had known long before Ian had agreed to the trip Stateside that it wasn’t going to work; he was too eager, too star struck, too everything but competent. The kisses had been great, but they hadn’t been firework-worthy, the first, second, and third base forays had been fun, but they hadn’t knocked her socks off. Long before he’d realised how dangerous their work truly was she had been thinking of asking for her key back.

She had been driving for a few hours, finished two bottles of water and desperately needed a pee when she noticed, with relief, the small store conveniently located next to a gas station. Checking the cooler on the floor in front of the passenger seat and the gauge for her gas tank – it was far closer to empty than she liked – she realised that now would be the perfect time to stop and stock up. 

Fifty-six dollars and one very long pee later she was back on the road; her little cooler was again full of water and candy, her car was again purring as well as something older than her could, and she was still far too many hours from home. It was getting dark and sooner rather than later she would have to stop or else risk driving off the road. She had promised Jane, and her mother, that she would be careful, and that included taking a break from the road even if it meant sleeping in her car with her Taser in her hand ‘just in case.’

~*~

Steve had had enough of New York. He hated the fact that everywhere he went he was under scrutiny; either from one of the letter agencies or a far-too-forward celeb hunter who seemed to think it was perfectly fine to hang all over him and ask him inappropriate questions. The moment they had returned from Sokovia he had packed up a few essentials in a threadbare backpack, changed into his civvies and picked his bike up from the garage at Stark Tower. He had headed out of the city on the back of his bike, relishing the feel of the wind in his hair and the sudden realisation that he was free, even if only for a time, and even if a lot of that freedom was nothing more than an illusion. Not even bothering to switch on the nifty GPS that Stark had insisted was vital in this day and age, having no doubt that it could easily be used to track him down if he used it, he patted his back pocket to check the map Clint had drawn him was where he’d put it, and took the I-80 heading out of town.

Five hours later Steve had managed to travel over 600 miles, made two brief pit stops, one to fuel up the other to eat – sometimes he hated the fact that his body burned up food quicker than his bike burned up gas – and was back on his way. It was pitch black, the roads were virtually empty and he was exhausted, mentally drained and wanted nothing but a week of sleep when he came across the small Honda Civic parked off to the side of the road. He could see there was a flashlight flickering behind the blanket and could hear the faint thrum of music and frustrated muttering. He raised a hand to knock on the window when, “Whoever you are, I’m armed and apparently very dangerous.”

He chuckled under his breath as he lowered his fist and headed back to his bike; this girl obviously was neither in distress nor was she in need of help. He headed back to his bike, kicked the starter pedal and continued on his way – he had a few more miles to go before he reached the inn he had booked for the night and he didn’t want to have to wake anyone to get in!

~*~

Darcy was up bright and early the next morning; after the close call with the stranger outside her window she had spent most of the night holding her Taser in a white knuckle grip and starting at every sound; this meant she was more than a little grumpy and less than happy when her phone rang. “What?” she managed to refrain from yelling, even though she really wanted to. What she really wanted was a strong cup of coffee and a massive bear claw.

“You said that you’d call us when you got there. Are you there yet?” Jane sounded as though she were trying not to giggle, and Darcy had no doubt that this was the case; whenever big Blondie came into town her usually completely obsessive science nerd was far more girly than she felt comfortable with.

“Given I haven’t actually called you yet what do you think?” She really was incredibly irritable this morning. She blamed it entirely on mysterious stranger; the thought that someone else might ignore her fully valid threat and try and break in had kept her on tenterhooks all night, two hours’ sleep was not enough to keep anyone sane.

“Are you okay, Darce? You sound a little tetchy? Want me to send Blondie to get you there quicker?” Suppressing a groan at this offer, Darcy took a few moments and searched the map she was sure she had put in her glove box.

“I’m fine, honest. You’d be the first person I called if there were anything wrong. I just need some caffeinated sugar goodness is all.” Having found the map, she made a quick job of laying it out on the passenger seat, holding the stubborn corners in place with chilled water bottles and seriously period-worthy bars of chocolate. “I’ll phone you as soon as I get there, but I think I might be lost so I have to go and check out my map.” She could almost hear Jane’s horror at the revelation that she was using a map for navigation rather than GPS, but sometimes she liked to go old school!

“I really don’t know why you couldn’t fly to Iowa, Darce…it would’ve been so much more logical.” Jane, for all that she could be so absorbed in her studies, to the point where she had to literally be force-fed when in the middle of a project, was a very good friend, but sometimes she didn’t understand that logic and reality didn’t necessarily go hand in hand.

“I don’t mind the drive, Jane. It gives me plenty of time to think.” _And besides which,_ she thought, _I don’t like to fly._ More than anything Darcy needed time to herself to think about things. Right now she had no idea what she was doing, or what she wanted to do, the internship with Jane was only ever meant to have been temporary; a way to get the much-needed science credits for her degree, but somehow it had evolved into something so much more, and it was a tad overwhelming. She had promised Jane that the trip home was only going to be a for a few weeks, but she had no doubt her friend was aware that she was running scared; taking the time to consider her options given their latest, definitely amazing but scary, offer of employment. Things had moved on so much further than just those few credits and now she was looking down the proverbial barrel at seriously life-changing decisions.

“Okay. But seriously, if you change your mind, just call.” Darcy could hear the faint murmur of conversation in the background before Jane finally uttered, “and if you need anything…”

“Oh my God, you’d think I was never coming back,” she finally laughed in an effort to end their conversation on a less morose note. “I’ll call you later. Another eight hours or so and I should be home.” She heard Thor shout his farewell in the background, and another murmur of conversation that she could barely make out before Jane finally cut the connection and Darcy was left in silence studying a map covered in coffee stains, chocolate fingerprints and wrinkles so deep they made her Great Aunt Edie look like a teenager. 

Wriggling in her seat as she fought back the urge to pull over and pee in the bushes like a Neanderthal, Darcy checked the map one last time before pulling out onto the quiet highway and heading towards the next rest stop. She didn’t care about anything else so long as she got a coffee and a bear claw; the mere mention of them to Jane had started her craving one so badly she would probably kill for the last one in a store!

She was full-on dancing and humming along to the radio, some bizarre country music station that she had found on three different bandwidths, by the time she found the turn off for a small convenience store, and pulled in. She dashed to the bathroom, relieved to find that it was both deserted and relatively clean – apart from a bit of green grime in the grouting. Opening a large bag that even Hermione Granger would have been happy to take along on a camping trip, she pulled out deodorant, a sponge, some lightly scented shower gel and a can of dry shampoo, and made quick work of cleaning herself up, finishing with a slick of her favourite _Dior_ gloss over her lips.

The little store wasn’t much, but they had a small selection of pastries and a heavy duty coffee machine that made the one she’d used at _Starbucks_ when she first started college look like a pygmy.

She returned to the road with an empty bladder, feeling a little less like she had slept in a car, helped considerably by a large caramel latte with four extra shots in her travel coffee mug, and two sticky, flaky bear claws wrapped in a paper bag. She planned on savouring both items, accompanied by her drive time playlist and the hope that the next six hundred miles went a lot quicker than the first.

~*~

The motel had been awful. Steve, who was used to sleeping on the most uncomfortable surfaces anywhere, had found the mattress at the so-called “Comfort Inn” to be the worst he had ever encountered. Every time he’d turned on the bed the springs had started to squeak which, in turn, had disturbed the people in the next room who had spent the next twenty minutes banging on the partition wall and yelling. By the time he’d given up all hope of getting a decent night’s sleep, the sun had already risen and he figured that he may as well pack up and leave.

Breakfast had been even more of a disappointment. The website that he’d found had declared the inn served a full breakfast; unfortunately that had been a whopping lie. His stomach growled, and with the taste of stale cereal still on his tongue, he pulled on his backpack, fastened the zipper on his jacket and headed off in the direction of the small convenience store he had seen a few miles back. 

The moment he pulled into the store parking lot he noticed the Honda he’d seen the evening before. This time the windows weren’t covered with blankets and when he checked it out he couldn’t see signs of life, though it was a mess! He walked into the small store and as he wandered around he picked up a few pastries, a large cup of coffee – none of that fancy stuff, he just wanted a proper brew strong enough for a spoon to stand up in – and stood by the microwave while a burger and hot dog sizzled in their plastic wrap. He was just paying when he heard the bell over the door ring, and a small brunette elbowed her way into the building. She was carrying a bag that looked far too big for her, and her wildly curly hair fell in disarray around her face. As she almost skipped over to the pastry display he had to fight the urge to both offer to help her carry her bag, and press her up against the wall and see if she tasted as sweet as she looked. 

He lowered the sunglasses he wore to protect his eyes from the early morning glare, and he allowed his lips to quirk upwards in a self-deprecating grin as he wondered at the sort of headlines that would fill those awful tabloids if they knew what went through his head half the time. He might be Captain America on the surface; truth, justice and the American way, but underneath he was still every inch Steve Rogers, the same as any other Brooklyn boy, hormone-driven and a sucker for a girl with curves.

He was a little disappointed when she didn’t spare him more than a glance; all her focus was clearly on the large bear claw she lifted to her nose and sniffed – her expression one of sheer bliss – and then placed two in a paper bag. She looked around at the other customers in the store for a moment, and then made quick work of the coffee machine. Her nose buried in the large cup she had pulled from the bag over her shoulder, she headed to the checkout and paid before heading out of the store. Feeling a bit resentful that she hadn’t noticed him, Steve paid for his own food, nodded at the girl behind the register who looked more bored than anything, and then walked back to his bike. The little car was still parked nearby, the girl sitting behind the wheel taking a sip from her coffee looking almost blissful. He watched for a few moments longer before starting the bike’s engine and heading back out on the road.

Steve was forced to make several more pit stops to refuel through the day, and every time he kept an eye out for the little blue and rust Honda Civic, in hopes that the curvy brunette would make another appearance, but his luck didn’t hold out, it had been pure chance he had seen her so many times, she could’ve been headed anywhere!

The sun had almost set, casting a pale purple hue over the fields he rode past, when Steve finally drove through the heavy duty security gates that Clint had installed the moment he returned from his final battle. He had smiled and waved up at the camera set on a tripod and simply waited until the gates had clicked and whirred and slowly started to open. The invitation to visit had been both sincere and open-ended, but Steve couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps he should have waited longer than a few days to interrupt the reunion. Parking his bike in the shed with Clint’s huge shiny 4x4, Steve unloaded the gifts he had picked up from the saddlebags and headed over to the farmhouse, a smile on his face when Clint pulled open the door, a baby perched on his hip, a spit-up covered rag slung over his shoulder, and two children standing behind him, curiously studying him as he walked up the steps.

~*~

Darcy was exhausted, she was hungry and she wanted to change into a pair of panties that weren’t currently trying to get far more intimate with her than she was comfortable with. As she stepped out of the car, dragging her super-sized bag with her, she wriggled and shook her legs, stretching until her back and neck cracked loudly, before heading to the trunk of the car and struggling with the rest of her things. The curtains at the lounge window twitched and she could see the wet black nose of one of the family dogs snuffling against the glass before he was forcibly tugged away, and then there was barking, and as she reached the top step her mom pulled open the front door and tugged Darcy into her arms, almost smothering her. “I’m so glad you’re back, baby girl…you’ve been gone far too long.”


	2. Everyday lives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Iowa things are scarily normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, thank you. This is my first venture into the MCU and I am overwhelmed by all your feedback and kudos.
> 
> I keep on forgetting the disclaimer so here it is: These characters are not my property, they are the creation of Marvel and owned by them (and Disney).
> 
> I also need to say HUGE thanks to my beta Palmetto Blue, and the wondrous glittergrrrl05 who pushed me to write even more...

Darcy rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head in an effort to block out the bright early morning sunlight streaming through the pale lemon curtains in her childhood bedroom. She managed a few more moments of half-sleep before the cell phone on her nightstand started to vibrate across the surface, and Blondie’s _One Way or Another_ filled the room. Groaning she reached a hand out from beneath the covers and picked up the phone, “’lo?” she answered after clearing her throat, her voice low and sleepy. 

“Oh, so you aren’t dead then? Darce, you said you’d call.” Jane sounded a combination of worried and angry; in the background Darcy could hear Thor grumbling at how his Jane hadn’t slept for her concern. 

“Sorry,” Darcy grumbled, finally sitting up and brushing a hand through her curls to get them out of her face. “I got here so late. I just forgot, but I definitely got here in one piece, no disasters to avert,” she grinned when she heard Jane pass this along to her hot blond Norse God and his positive response. “So, to what do I owe a call at…” she pulled the phone away from her ear and checked the screen, grimacing when she noticed that it wasn’t quite 7 am, far too early to be up unless she was going to help with farm chores. “Seriously? What are you doing up at eight on a Saturday? Shouldn’t you be in bed doing something naughty?” 

“Where’d you put the last box of S’mores Pop-Tarts?” Jane asked, in the background cupboards were being loudly opened and closed. Darcy guessed that it was good that her science-obsessed friend was actually thinking about food, even if it was nothing more than Pop-Tarts. “I was sure there was another whole box somewhere.” 

“Cupboard under Erik’s hydro-board whatsit,” she responded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her friend’s antics. “Is that really why you called? Couldn’t it have waited until, I don’t know, lunchtime?” 

“You didn’t call; you said you’d call and when you didn’t…” There was an edge of panic to Jane’s voice, as though she was remembering other calls that had been promised, so Darcy decided to cut her some slack. 

“Jane, I’m sorry. I won’t forget again. I will call later, promise.” On the other end of the line Darcy heard her friend giggle, a most uncharacteristic sound that made her feel a little uncomfortable. “I’ll let you and Big Blondie get back to searching for food. Bye…” she hung up and then gave up on any ideas of going back to sleep when her bedroom door started to open and her mom poked her head around it. 

“Knock knock Darcy Ann, you decent in there?” 

Knowing full well that her mom could see her and that there was truly no escape, as she couldn’t pretend to be asleep, Darcy pulled the covers up to cover her chest and leaned back against the headrest, “I’m always decent,” she sighed. “You can come in, mom.” 

Helen walked into the room and, after placing a cup of strong coffee on the nightstand, sat down on the edge of Darcy’s bed, patting her daughter’s feet. She always knew when there was something up, even when they were thousands of miles apart, and now was no different. “What has you driving all the way back from the city in the middle of summer?” 

Resigned to the fact that this talk was going to happen whether she wanted to or not, Darcy took a sip of her coffee, resisting the urge to spit it out when she realised it was some fake coffee substitute. She put the cup back down, fighting the desire to wipe her tongue of the taste, and settled in for the long mother/daughter talk that she both wanted and dreaded at the same time. “Lots of things to think about, and what better place to do it than home?” she eventually responded, shrugging her shoulders in a way that, when she was a child, showed she was really unsure of everything. 

“And you think Daddy and I can help?” Helen knew her daughter well, there was something about the way she was acting that had her worried; Darcy was the sort of girl that jumped into things with both feet and she was concerned this was something big. 

“Just a bit of a perspective is all.” In the scheme of things it really wasn’t anything bad; the job offer was a fantastic opportunity, and in a way it was a stupid thing to run away from, but it moved her into a career path she wasn’t entirely comfortable with, and she felt completely unprepared for. 

“Darcy Ann, have you got yourself in trouble?” 

“What?” Darcy almost squealed, “No. No way,” she thought of telling her mom the truth, that there was absolutely zero chance of that, but that was not a conversation she relished the thought of having with anyone. 

“Well thank goodness for that. I think you’d push your father into an early grave!” Helen chuckled a little at the horrified expression on her daughter’s face and then pressed on. “So what has you in such a tizz that you had to drive all the way back here in that death-trap you call a car?” 

Taking a deep breath, Darcy outlined the offer that Stark had made to Jane and everything that went with it; though she made quite sure to leave out Norse Gods, the location of the job and all the scary stuff that went with this amazing opportunity, just in case she found herself waking up in a locked room! 

~*~ 

Steve walked back into the house, sweat dripping down his back and from his hairline; he had been out since sunrise, had done two circuits of the farm and then headed into the barn to punch the stuffing out of a punch bag before returning to the house. He hadn’t slept well, but that wasn’t much of a surprise, he hadn’t been sleeping well for a while and the last few months had done nothing to change that. He was just pouring himself a large glass of milk when he heard the thud of heavy footsteps as two tow-headed children rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen. He grinned when Lila simply wrapped her arms around his left thigh and refused to let go, mumbling against his shorts-covered hip about being hungry. With a laugh he attempted to pry her away, and when she continued to stick to him like a burr, he made quick work of shuffling over to the fridge to pull out the makings of pancakes and a half-full carton of juice. 

He was still standing at the stove expertly flipping fluffy blueberry filled pancakes when Clint and Laura made their way down the stairs a short while later. Lila had been tempted over to the TV in the far corner of the kitchen, and Cooper was amusing himself with a set of Lego blocks, so Steve was taking his time, allowing his mind to wander as he made breakfast. 

“You’re going to make some lucky woman very happy, Steve,” Laura stated, after taking a bite of the pancakes slathered in butter and syrup he had placed before her. Clint smirked when his friend’s cheeks coloured at the compliment. 

“It’s the least I could do, ma’am. For letting me stay,” Steve, despite having been awake for over three years in the 21st century, still felt a little out of place; being away from Stark and all his quips, subtle digs and gadgetry was actually helping him to relax. 

“Clint, you could learn something from him, maybe I should upgrade,” Laura grinned, using her fork as a pointer as she studied Steve, looking him up and down. “You up for that?” Her grin grew even larger when Steve’s ears blushed a dusky pink, and he looked down at the griddle, obviously wishing he weren’t part of the conversation. 

“Lor,” Clint began, moving to stand behind her and leaning over to steal some of her breakfast, “He wouldn’t know what to do with a woman like you.” 

For a moment Steve felt resentment building in his chest – he had no idea why his friends had this puritan view of him, it was clear they believed him to be some kind of boy scout! He might be a little bit behind the times, but he was definitely no innocent chick. With a shrug of his shoulders he tipped the last two pancakes onto his plate, poured over a generous amount of syrup and carried them over to the table. “You not eating, Steve?” Clint picked up his fork and tucked into the food in front of him, polishing off half of the pancakes in a few quick mouthfuls. 

“I need a few things from town, so thought I’d have a shower and then ride in, maybe get something there,” he put the pans in the dishwasher neatly, taking care to put the knife and forks in the right way up, “d’you need anything?” 

“Definitely competition,” Laura told Clint loudly enough that Steve heard, and he couldn’t help but smile, “I’ll put a list together.” 

He stood under the heated spray of the shower for a few minutes before quickly washing his hair with some tea tree shampoo he’d found in a small store in his neighbourhood and had liked the smell of. He emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, a small smear of toothpaste at the corner of his mouth and his hair curling slightly as it dried. Pulling on his boots at the door he took the list that Laura held out for him, “If you think of anything else,” he told her, “you can call me.” He patted his jacket pocket to make sure he had remembered to pick the phone up from his nightstand and nodded in confirmation. 

“Thanks, Steve,” Laura smiled as he leaned down to awkwardly press a kiss to her cheek, and she wet her thumb and cleaned the toothpaste from his face. “You’re as bad as the kids,” she told him jokingly when he rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth and checked it to ensure there wasn’t anything left. “If Clint looked as good as you,” she joked, “he’d be forever looking in the mirror.” 

“Hey!” Clint protested from his seat on the floor with Lila where he was suffering her playing with his hair and some glittery barrettes. “I’m not that vain!” 

Steve chuckled at the picture his friend made, with sparkly pins holding his hair back from his face and pink blush in circles like a clown on his cheeks, “Of course not, Princess,” he replied as he waved to the house as a whole and headed out to the garage for his bike. 

~*~ 

“Coffee…” Darcy walked into the kitchen and, after tipping out the chicory-flavoured fake caffeine her mom had tried to fool her with, started to look for the real deal. She opened and quickly closed cabinets filled with quinoa and buckwheat, and a fridge overflowing with soy milk and other nasty stuff she would never dream of consuming. “Mom!” she called up the stairs, “where’s the coffee?” 

Helen entered the kitchen and had to stifle her laughter; Darcy looked almost desperate! “If you want coffee you’ll have to go into town,” she informed her daughter, smiling at the expression of dismay that crossed her daughter’s face. “I can make you another cup of Maca if you want?” 

Still mentally trying to get rid of the brief taste she’d _enjoyed_ , Darcy shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’ll head into town and get a real drink!” 

“I hope you’re not thinking of going out like that, Darcy Ann.” Darcy rolled her eyes and then turned to smirk at her mom. 

“Why not? In Puente Antiguo I’d go to the store wearing my pjs and a coat all the time, no one cared.” She had only done that a couple of times, and then Jane had yelled at her for making people think that they were weird; the fact that they’d ended up involved in a strange alien attack meant nothing. 

“I don’t care what you do in the city; you’ll wear proper clothes to go out in town here.” Helen picked a pan from the cabinet by the sink and placed it on the stove, turning on the heat. “I’m making quinoa pancakes, do you want some?” 

Fighting the urge to stick her tongue out in horror at the thought of anyone making pancakes into a health food, Darcy simply shook her head and then headed up the stairs to the bathroom for a quick shower. “I’ll get something at the Windy Tree, mom,” she finally called out before stepping under the warm spray of the shower. “Not going to touch whatever she thinks is breakfast,” she muttered under her breath as she stuck her tongue out under the water and scrubbed at it with a finger, determined to rinse the remaining taste of Maca from it. 

More than half an hour later, feeling a little more refreshed, her hair wet, Darcy walked back into the kitchen. Her mom and step-dad were sitting at the breakfast bar, a pile of pancakes that looked deceptively like the ones she would snack on at IHOP between them. “Are you sure you don’t want some, hon? Helen asked, half-standing in anticipation of a positive response. “I can get you a plate.” 

“No, mom, I’m fine. But thanks,” she stood on tiptoe to get her car keys from the hook where they were always kept in the house and then slung her purse over her shoulder. “D’you need anything in town? Coffee? Pancake mix?” She grinned when her mom made a fake swipe as if to smack her on the back of the head. “Hey, I was just asking!” 

“You watch your cheek. There’s nothing wrong with quinoa; I’ll have you enjoying it before the end of the week.” 

“No way José,” Darcy stated, her tone definitive, “I’ll stick to the real deal; just like my coffee.” She headed to the front door before turning again, “if you think of anything just call, I have my cell with me.”


	3. Bump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy bumps into Steve, literally...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, they are the property of Marvel.
> 
> I have to say thanks, again, to my cheerleaders, Palmetto Blue and glittergrrrl05, and a huge thanks for all the kudos and comments, still shocked!

For a small town, the line for coffee at the Windy Tree was pretty long; winding out the door and into the street. Darcy didn’t care though, she could smell the roasted beans and she shoved the earbuds from her iPod in her ears and started listening to her _Early Morning_ playlist. She was used to standing in line for things, it had become something of a regular pastime for her while living in London, and although she wanted nothing more than to barge past the person at the front who seemed to be ordering enough coffee for a fully staffed office, she managed to restrain herself. 

It took ten minutes, but finally the guy at the front was walking away from the counter with a large carry box full of cups of the steamy aromatic brew; just two more people to go and she would have her own double pump caramel full-fat latte with an extra shot, just the thought of it put a small smile on her face. “Finally,” she muttered under her breath when a young girl wearing a bright yellow tee and matching baseball hat asked her for her order then went over to the shiny metal behemoth of a coffee machine to make it. She still needed something to help get rid of the memory of that awful crap her mom had tried to feed her that morning. 

Cup in hand, Darcy walked toward the door; she had her head down as she scrolled through the dozen or so texts from Jane that had arrived in the space of a few minutes. Admittedly she wasn’t being at all attentive when she walked right into someone who hadn’t been there just moments before, spilling the steaming coffee all down the front of her favourite Thor T-shirt – for some reason he had thought they were hilarious and bought one for all his friends – she would never claim to understand Thor or the way he thought, but she had to admit that he was pretty to look at. Aware of the drips of coffee trickling down the side of her phone case she quickly wiped the screen on the front of her jeans and checked it was still working before shoving it in her back pocket. 

Ready to yell at whoever had dared to step in her path, her jaw dropped; she reached out a tentative hand and pressed it against the firm chest. “Well, how ‘bout that,” she muttered as she continued to study him, for a moment her attention drawn away from the drink she was now wearing. 

“Sorry, ma’am, didn’t mean to get in your way,” Steve stated, his tone apologetic as he reached out to try and help her, peeling her hand from his chest gently and guiding her out of the path of the people still getting served. It was difficult not to notice the state of her t-shirt or the fact that it was clinging to her in all the right places. Flushing, he looked up and attempted a smile. “Here,” he offered, holding out a handful of the paper napkins that the dazed girl behind the counter had handed him with his own coffee. “Let me,” he reached out and used one to wipe away a streak of caramel syrup that was just above the low neckline of her t-shirt, he continued to study the rise and fall of her chest even after she had let out a heavy sigh and grabbed the napkins. In his head he could hear Clint laughing and telling him that he should take his chance; she looked like a 1940’s pin-up, a pocket Venus, all curves and moxie, the sort of girl he often imagined in the shower, or in the early hours when he couldn’t sleep! 

“Don’t mind me,” she told him, smirking as she pulled the damp material away from her chest and wiped at her cleavage, rubbing the lace of her favourite purple bra until only a light coffee-smelling stain remained. She was relieved that the lingerie hadn’t been totally destroyed by the drink as finding a bra in Victoria’s Secret that was her size was more than a little difficult. Steve knew his cheeks were as red as a stop light, but he couldn’t look away as she tugged on her bra straps and, without any guile at all, started to tidy herself up right there in the middle of the store. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her as she attempted to dab off the worst “Hey, eyes up here,” she finally ordered him, putting one hand under his chin and guiding his head upwards. “I know that they’re pretty magnificent, but the rest of me isn’t too bad either.” 

His eyes flicked downward a few more times while she attempted to tidy herself up, and he couldn’t help but find the way she was muttering to herself rather enchanting. “Uh,” he finally managed, feeling more than a little bit awkward at having been noticed studying her charms, “Can I help at all?” He wondered if she would ask him to help her wipe the sticky drink from the pale slope of her shoulders, and had to fight the little devil inside that was insisting she wouldn’t mind if he helped her to wring the coffee out of her t-shirt. 

“No, I can manage, thanks.” She looked at the line again, and deflated when she realised that she had only two choices; line up for another drink or forget the coffee and hope that they sold more than just the disgusting generic crap in the store across the street. 

“At least let me get you another drink?” he asked; leaning in, and brushing his finger across her collarbone then sucking it into his mouth, “Caramel latte, right?” 

Darcy looked up at him, a small smile on her face as she studied his features. He was definitely very handsome, bright blue eyes and blond hair that definitely didn’t come from a bottle, but she was used to the way that he was staring at her, and it never ended up with her finding a happy place. “I’m fine,” she shoved the damp napkins into the nearby trashcan and started to walk around him before stopping and turning again, “but thanks.” Cursing the manners which always seemed to rear their unwelcome head when she was home, Darcy headed out through the door and crossed the street to the grocery store, determinedly ignoring the fact that her t-shirt was still clinging to her stickily and her whole body felt as though it was electrically charged wherever he had touched it. 

Steve watched as the girl walked across the street, finding the way that she moved to be fascinating, she was the sort of girl Vargas would have loved to paint, all hips and bust and pouty lips. A small smile on his face, he headed to the back of the line that was slowly getting shorter, and thought about what he would say to her; He had enjoyed the fire that had kindled in her eyes when she’d snatched the napkins away from him, and he had no doubt that she was the sort of girl who would take great pleasure in slapping him if she thought he was stepping out of line. 

Darcy was not happy; her t-shirt was sticking to her in places that it really shouldn’t, and she could feel where the coffee had soaked through the padding of her bra. Spotting a rack of t-shirts behind the door as she walked into the store, she headed over there and flicked through them, grimacing at the rather hideous designs on some, grinning when she finally found one that looked less like something her Great Aunt Maud would pick out, _Look, but don’t touch!_ The shirt was far too long, but that didn’t matter so much, she just needed to change into something less coffee stained and wet. 

She walked over to the register and, spotting old Mr Yankowicz stocking one of the lower shelves she knocked on the counter, “Can I go in the back and change, Mr Y?” Her first ever job had been standing behind the counter and serving people with a smile, even if she had been spotty, hormonal and grumpy as hell. Yankowicz and his wife had owned the store for longer than Darcy had been alive, and they prided themselves on providing good service; as the only grocery store for 15 miles they stocked all the basics and doubled as post office and drugstore, so it was rarely quiet. 

“Darcy Lewis, I heard you were coming back for a visit, staying long?” People had been sure when Ida had died a few years ago, that Viktor would pass the mantle on to his son, but the store had been his for 40 years and he wasn’t one for sitting idle. 

Darcy graced him with a smile, stood on tiptoe and leaned across the counter to press a kiss to his weathered cheek. “Not sure yet, might stay the summer. You’re looking good.” 

“You haven’t changed a bit,” Viktor patted Darcy’s hand and gave her a half-smile, “still a bad liar.” He looked at the t-shirt in her hand and the t-shirt she was wearing. “Now what was that about wanting to use the back room? Not hiding from your mom and sneaking a cigarette, are you?” As a teenager she had been a bit of a hellion; doing anything and everything she could to push as far as she could. 

“No,” she shook her head, “I gave that stuff up when it became legal. No fun when you’re allowed to do it!” She pulled the tag from the collar of the shirt and, using her teeth, snapped the plastic tie before placing it on the register, “I promise I won’t sneak out the back way, just really need to get out of this, I’m totally clumsy.” 

“You truly haven’t changed,” he smiled as he lifted the curtain hiding the door to the stock room where Darcy had taken many a break as a teenager, and handed her the key. 

She tugged her favourite t-shirt off over her head, grimacing a little when the sodden material clung to her skin, and pulled a shopping bag from her purse to wrap the garment in, the last thing she needed was to destroy her iPad, she was in the middle of re-reading _Lady Susan_ , and she had finally managed to get all her contacts synced. Knotting the bottom of the new shirt so that it was no longer hanging around her knees, instead it was tight on her hips and the words were stretched taut across her chest. Before heading back out into the store, she took a quick trip to the bathroom, and reapplied the cranberry gloss to her lips. Smiling at her reflection in the mirror, Darcy blew herself a kiss and then, shoving the plastic bag into her seemingly bottomless purse, headed back to get the rest of her shopping; it would be a very long summer without proper coffee and a supply of Red Vines. 

She was swaying to the music as she searched the shelves for something that wasn’t instant and definitely wasn’t _Folgers_ , she had already found the real flour and sugar and real milk and placed them all in the heavy basket on her forearm. “Not keen on the food at home?” Viktor asked as she virtually swept the entire contents of a shelf of pretzels on top of her other items. 

“Have you seen it? She’s clearly gone insane – quinoa pancakes? Just, no!” She was quite enthusiastic in her decrying of the health food her mom had decided was part of her new way of life. Viktor couldn’t help but smile at her antics; for all that she had never been the best worker he’d had in the store Darcy had certainly been the most affectionate, lively and amusing one. He had been sad when she’d won a place at Culver then packed her stuff up in the jalopy she had attempted to lovingly restore, and driven off in a cloud of dust. 

“Got enough of those pretzels there? I think there might be another box out back,” Viktor joked when she looked down at her overflowing basket with a contemplative expression on her face. 

“I think this’ll be okay for now, if I get desperate I can always come back,” she continued to search the shelves, sure that there had to be something other than the Folgers, which wasn’t much better than the Maca. “Okay Mr Y, I know you have to have some…where’s the good coffee?” She gave him her widest smile, the classic _you know I’m your favourite person ever_ smile that she saved exclusively for times when she really wanted something. 

Unfortunately, the only _good_ coffee in stock happened to be the _Starbucks Italian Roast_ , not exactly Darcy’s favourite, or even the best that the chain sold, but it would do. She picked up the last two bags and dropped them on top of the other items in her basket, then headed over to the register, already reaching into her back pocket for her wallet. 

With a sigh of relief at the thought of a cup of real coffee and a nice high pile of warm, fluffy pancakes she picked up her heavy duty tote and, after waving at Viktor and promising she would definitely be back soon, she headed out of the store. She came up short when she noticed the tall blond who was leaning against the wall, a cup of coffee at his lips and another on the sill beside him. “I figured you might’ve been a bit hasty saying no,” he told her, a smirk on his lips as he picked up the extra cup and handed it to her with a little flourish. 

Darcy dropped the tote on the ground and took the cup he offered; it was definitely another caramel latte, even had the extra shot she needed to get her acting human in the mornings. 

“Scouts honour, I didn’t add anything,” he stated, two fingers up to his forehead in a salute. 

Studying him in his jeans, white t-shirt that showed every single rippling ab and the leather jacket that seemed to have been made just for him, she couldn’t help but lick her lips and run her admiring eyes over every single inch; but she quickly met his eyes when he moved closer, and looked down at her with a smug smile on his face. “Well, thank you,” she grinned, after taking a small sip and sighing as the nectar warmed her from the inside. 

“Guess this is our first date,” Steve told her before taking another drink from his own cup, watching her over the rim. She was clearly enjoying the coffee, and he was enjoying the way that her eyes closed and she smiled as she continued to consume her own coffee. 

“You don’t give up do you,” she replied, leaning down and picking up the hefty tote. “You fight dirty, buying a girl her favourite coffee…” 

“Only when I want to win,” Steve watched through his lashes as she sucked her full lower lip between her teeth, and he had to fight the urge to lean in and kiss her. She was enchanting even as she bantered with him, and he was intrigued. This was the first time a woman had seen beyond the suit he wore, and wasn’t falling all over herself to impress him; in fact it appeared that this girl didn’t even know who he was. 

“I like your style,” Darcy informed him, “Thanks for the coffee.” Without another glance in his direction, she walked across the street and towards the small parking lot. 

With a half grin on his lips, Steve watched her walking away, admiring the enticing sway of her hips in a pair of jeans that had no business looking so good, until she climbed into her little rundown Honda and he heard the reluctant splutter of the engine turning over as she twisted the key in the ignition. “Well shit, that could’ve gone better,” he muttered as her car pulled out of the lot, “I didn’t even get a number!”


	4. Fireworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Festivals are a really good place to meet up, right? Darcy is helping her mom with her efforts to sell health foods to the masses and Steve is enjoying his anonymity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, they are the property of Marvel.
> 
> I have to say a few thank yous to the people who have made these chapters possible; my amazing Ameri-picker Palmetto Blue, the wonderful glittergrrrl05 who is determined to make me see the wonder that is the use of contractions, and the brilliant Sweet Trufflepuff who helps me to make small-town IA more realistic.
> 
> I also want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has left Kudos or a comment (I had no idea that this fic would get such a wonderful reception), so thank you.

Darcy was doing her best to encourage people to buy the delicate gluten-free carob cupcakes and coconut and hazelnut balls, but she wasn’t doing very well; it probably had a great deal to do with the fact that her single attempt at eating one had ended with her spitting it out into a paper napkin and throwing it into the trash can under the table. 

A forced smile on her face, she rearranged the cupcakes on the dessert plate for the fifth time, studying the layout before moving them a little, all the while trying not to turn her nose up at the unpalatable bites. She studied them for a moment, her head tilted to one side as she tried to figure out a way to make them more saleable; unfortunately she didn’t think that even covering them with gold would get the candy-obsessed kids to want to try one. With a sigh, and a quick glance to make sure her mom was nowhere nearby, she picked up her over-sized pocketbook and dug through it until she found her emergency comfort stash of frosting, the most perfect and transport friendly sweet treat there was in existence! 

Steve had never been to a festival where he wasn’t the focus of the crowd before, and he was enjoying being able to wander around without having to force a smile. He was standing across from the three local food stands, when he noticed Honda girl – as he had started to refer to her in his head – a large smile on her full lips and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes as she dunked a few of the rather unappetising cakes in a tub of chocolate frosting she pulled from out of her huge bag, that was definitely not full of natural and healthy flavours. He pushed his sunglasses up his nose with one finger and headed over to the stand, hoping that this time he would be a little bit more successful in persuading her to go on a date. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” he told her, biting back laughter when she dropped the cupcake on the table frosting side down, an expression of guilt on her face. 

“Oh my God, you just appear from nowhere don’t you?” she demanded, her tone full of frustration as she hurriedly cleaned up the chocolate frosting and dumped another couple of cupcakes in the bin behind her. As if realising that he might actually be a customer, and her mom would skin her alive if she put people off the gross product she was selling, she pasted an obviously fake smile on her face, “Uh…I mean, how can I help you today, sir?” She flashed him a smile and leaned over the table a little further, pushing a plate of the cupcakes towards him, and unknowingly giving him an eyeful. 

“I’m Steve,” he responded, smirking at her quick save and realising that she wanted nothing more than to tell him to go away. 

“Darcy,” she finally replied, continuing to mess with the cupcakes in front of her and only briefly looking up to meet his eyes. “Can I help you?” 

Steve found his eyes drawn to the slogan on her chest; she seemed to have a very creative selection of shirts and, far from distracting him from staring at her ample offerings, he couldn’t actually look away. 

Steve smirked when he noticed the blush on Darcy’s cheeks as he stroked one finger down her arm. He leaned in close enough over the counter that he could smell the coconut of her shampoo and the sickly sweet chocolate frosting that coated her fingers, and he was enchanted. 

“How about a coffee, Darcy?” he asked, his voice low, almost a purr as he appeared to savour her name. 

Darcy turned a grateful smile on him, glancing up at him through dark lashes, and subtly licked her lips. “A man after my own heart,” she made a show of sighing loudly as she placed a hand over said heart. “I’d kill for a mocha frap,” she told him, “you’re a star!” 

“I was thinkin’ we’d go and get one together,” he told her, sticking his finger in the frosting on one of the cupcakes and bringing it to his mouth; it was very sweet and stuck to the roof of his mouth like peanut butter. 

“You break it, you bought it,” Darcy grinned as she picked up the offending cupcake with his fingerprints on it, and handed it to him. “That’ll be three dollars,” she told him, her voice filled with barely suppressed laughter. 

“Three dollars?” Steve repeated, “but the sign says one-fifty.” He didn’t have a problem paying, would happily pay more, but he liked the way her cheeks were getting more and more flushed the longer he stared at her. 

“That was for a healthy cupcake, the tasty stuff was extra,” she made a pointed glance at the tub of frosting he had pulled towards him with one long finger and was making quick work of finishing off. “I don’t know where you’re putting it all,” she shook her head, taking her time admiring the length of his body, lingering for just a few moments extra on the firm chest that was so nicely emphasised by the light grey t-shirt he was wearing. 

“Just lucky, I guess.” Steve shrugged and picked up the tub to finish the last few mouthfuls. He continued to study her as she nervously moved around, fiddling with the abundance of stock that her mom obviously hoped to sell. “So, ‘bout that coffee?” 

“Oh look at that, some people want to buy some...stuff,” Darcy muttered, attempting to hide the blush that had risen from the collar of her t-shirt, heating her cheeks. She tried to gain the attention of the people who were passing by with barely a glance in her direction, desperate to distract herself from her attentive and eager audience. 

Darcy was piling another box of the coconut balls on top of the rest when her mom returned, a cowboy hat perched jauntily on her head. As she walked in through the back of the tent she gazed curiously on Steve, who was still leaning casually against the table studying Darcy, and being rather obvious in his interest. “Well hello,” Helen greeted him, walking over to stand near, wondering why her daughter was doing her best to ignore her audience. “I’m Helen, Darcy’s mom. Who are you?” 

Fighting the urge to bang her head on the table, Darcy did her best to look busy and uninterested as her mom made nice. 

“Ma’am,” he drawled, and Darcy could almost imagine him tipping his hat, if he were actually wearing one. “I’m Steve. I wonder if you could spare your daughter so I can take her for a coffee.” 

Darcy groaned silently and wondered what exactly she’d done in a past life to deserve this. Helen Lewis was the sort of mom who’d interfere in her child’s life if there was a single sign that it was necessary, she really didn’t want her mom interfering in her non-existent dating life; not now, not ever! 

“Well Steve, I don’t see any reason why not.” She picked up the empty tub of frosting and cast a glare in her daughter’s direction before throwing it in the trash and pushing the frosted cupcakes in after it. “Darcy, this nice young man wants to take you for coffee. Why don’t you go and have a look at the rest of the fair?” 

“Nice young man?” Darcy muttered as she tried to busy herself with rearranging the display _again_. “How do you know he’s nice?” 

“Darcy Ann!” Helen managed to inject a scandalised tone into those two words and Darcy felt a little embarrassed at being chastised in front of someone else. “Go and have fun, I can finish up here. I’ll see you at home later…” As Darcy walked by, heading over to pick up her purse and wide-brimmed hat she used to protect herself from sunburn - how she hated her pale skin - she barely dodged the swipe her mom made at her ass. “You behave a little and show this nice boy a good afternoon.” 

Darcy had to bite her tongue to prevent the classic teenage whine from escaping her lips at her mother’s outrageous order; instead she settled for blushing a deeper shade of rose and ducking her head so that Steve was left staring at a riot of dark brunette curls. 

Aware that she was being stared at, and feeling a little uncomfortable at the attention, Darcy finally looked up, a smile fixed on her full lips. “So, about that coffee?” 

Steve was doing his best to be the perfect gentleman, even though he wanted nothing more than to bend down and suck on her full top lip - it was mesmerising. He placed one hand gently in the small of her back and guiding her through the large crowd wandering around the festival. A couple of times he spotted Laura or Clint with one or more of the kids, but he didn’t do more than nod and smile, instead devoting his attention to the quiet woman by his side. 

The coffee was as good as it had been a few days before, and Darcy definitely appeared to be enjoying it, if the sigh that escaped her lips at the first sip was any indication. He managed to refrain from kissing the caramel foam from the corner of her mouth, instead lightly wiping it away with the tip of his thumb and sucking it into his mouth with a smirk. He enjoyed the way her eyes darkened, and fought the urge to do more than grin. 

Darcy wanted to dislike Steve; he was a flirt, a tease and far too good looking for his own - and her - good, but she couldn’t. He only stared at her boobs a little bit, but she could forgive him that, she was pretty proud of them herself! He seemed to be interested in learning about her, letting her talk about anything and everything, laughing in a way that made her think he didn’t get the chance all that often when she told him silly stories about the weird adventures with Jane - though obviously she wasn’t going to tell him all about their outer space discoveries; she wasn’t stupid! 

“Are you in a hurry to get anywhere?” Steve asked, hoping that she’d answer in the negative. He was enjoying her company and didn’t want the day to end just yet. The sun had started to set, a golden peach glow on the horizon and the crowd had thinned out considerably, families heading home for the evening and more people heading over to watch the fireworks display a few fields over. 

Darcy checked her watch and shook her head. “I think my mom would be super disappointed if I headed home before 10,” she grinned and studied Steve as he studied her. “What d’you have in mind?” 

“I hear the fireworks display is something to behold,” he told her, hoping that she wasn’t the sort of girl that preferred expensive meals at classy restaurants, mostly because that was one thing this town really didn’t seem to have. 

“And funnel cake,” Darcy added, grinning. She’d been craving it since the stand had opened; the smell of frying batter and rich dark chocolate had her determined to get one the moment she was free of her mom’s health food. “So, what are we waiting for then?” She stood up and tugged him to his feet with only the tiniest bit of effort, dragging him over to the funnel cake stand and waiting, with an excited smile as the young boy in charge of the fryer dropped fresh batter into the oil and did his best to appear as though he wasn’t staring at Darcy’s generous assets. 

Ten minutes later, with crispy funnel cake wrapped carefully in squares of paper towel, they made their way past the closed stalls and empty bandstand. Steve didn’t say a word when he realised she was still holding his hand as they walked together to the firework display, their path lit by tiny multi-coloured strings of lights that flickered like candles in the waning daylight. 

The field looked as though it had been decorated with thousands of fireflies, the familiar smell of gunpowder, sulphur, sweet chocolate and spicy cinnamon filled the air, bringing back wistful thoughts of a time before he’d been forced to hide his true self. Helping Darcy to walk over the slightly rain-dampened grass, he guided her towards a large maple, the branches heavy with glossy red leaves, a protective canopy from the light rain that had started to fall. 

Ever the gentleman - even when his thoughts were anything but - Steve took off his jacket and laid it out on the ground, then sat down and pulled Darcy into the space between his legs, wrapping his arms around her and sharing his warmth. 

Darcy suppressed a shudder when he nuzzled the skin behind her ear with his nose and pressed a kiss to her neck. She had no idea what she was doing, or why she was doing it, but for some reason it felt strangely natural. She snuggled back against him and took the time to savour his relatively innocent caresses while she enjoyed the rich chocolate dip on fried sugar-sweetness. 

The noises that Darcy was making as she ate the funnel cake were almost his undoing. He shuffled back a little bit in order to hide the effect that she was having on him, stifling a groan when she leaned back. “Want a bite? I feel like an absolute pig,” she told him, offering him the chocolate-dipped snack. “If you don’t,” she waggled it, grinning, “I’ll just eat it all.” 

“It’ll taste sweeter this way,” he informed her as he leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers, his mouth caressing hers in a way that had her eyes fluttering closed and the funnel cake dropping to the grass at her side. She opened her mouth beneath his on a sigh and turned in his arms to deepen the kiss, his tongue stroking against hers before she responded, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her body closer. 

Taking a deep breath, Steve slowly broke their embrace, and looked down at her, licking his lips. “That tasted much better than any old funnel cake,” he grinned, brushing a thumb gently over her lips, and then sucking it into his mouth, “don’t you think?” 

Darcy could hardly speak; his kiss had knocked her for six and she was struggling to think of something to say that wouldn’t sound absolutely idiotic - he’d fried her brain! “Damn!” she muttered when she finally noticed the remains of the funnel cake now being enjoyed by a couple of blackbirds. “Want the rest of the chocolate?” she finally asked, dipping her fingers into the small pot of warm sauce and holding them to his lips.


	5. Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's still persistent, Darcy is definitely about to give in, and it all happens in one day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These characters are not mine, they are the property of Marvel and Disney.
> 
> I would like to say a huge huge thank you (with loads of hugs and kisses) to my troika of betas, Palmetto Blue, Glitter and Sweet T, who have helped me so far to make this as 'realistic' as a fanfic can be.
> 
> I would also like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been reading, leaving feedback and/or kudos...THANK YOU.

After a morning spent at home being questioned about the previous night, Darcy decided she’d be better off in town. Not wanting to take the car as she really wanted an excuse to take her time, she went to the old shed at the end of the yard and unearthed her old and cobweb-covered bicycle. After wiping it down with almost half a roll of paper towels, she gave it a quick once over with an oil can and a wrench and set off on her ride into town. 

Resting her bike up against the side of the building, Darcy walked up the front steps and into the Windy Tree. Tt was rather quiet this morning; the breakfast crowd had dissipated and though there was a group of young mothers gathered in one corner, baby paraphernalia surrounding them, there were still plenty of tables empty. She dumped her bag on one of the tables by the window, draped her jacket over the back of the squishy leather chair, and then walked up to the counter. 

The smell of warm croissants was tantalising, and though she knew she should resist, perhaps go for the yogurt and muesli instead - secretly she thought that resembled sawdust more than it did food - she gave into her desire for the flaky pastry. She ordered one to go with her Americano with vanilla creamer and extra sugar and, after paying, headed back to her stuff. The sound of gurgling babies, the hiss of the coffee machine as they made her drink, and the murmur of chatter from the moms’ group in the corner blended into the background as she hooked up to the store WiFi network and logged into her email. 

She’d just finished reading a mail from one of her old roommates - a rundown of the latest gossip from campus - when she looked out the window and her jaw dropped. The most gorgeous black and polished chrome Harley had pulled to a stop outside, and she’d know that hip to shoulder ratio anywhere. “OMG,” she spluttered, putting her tablet down on the table and picking at the crumbs of her croissant as she continued to stare at Steve and his motorcycle. 

Attempting to look as though she wasn’t staring, she picked the tablet back up and flicked to one of her favourite bookmarks; an _Olicity_ fanfic by one of the, in her opinion, best authors! She was reading a particularly steamy scene between the lead couple in his lair when the chair opposite hers scraped against the floor and Steve slumped into it with a grunt. “Oh, don’t mind me,” he informed her as he shrugged off his jacket, rolling his wide shoulders and grinning when he felt her eyes on him. “I was hoping I’d bump into you.” 

Darcy, some element of polite having been bred into her by a determined mother over the years, logged out of her fanfic account and pushed the tablet to the bottom of her tote. With nothing to hide behind, she picked up the super-size mug of coffee on the table in front of her and buried her face in it, taking a large mouthful, determined to conceal the blush she could feel on her cheeks. “Hi Steve,” she finally mumbled, licking the frothy milk from her top lip and offering him a smile. 

Taking the smile for a welcome, Steve leaned across the table and, heedless of the small audience he knew was watching them from the back of the café, cupped her chin and brushed his lips across hers lightly, moving away only when the barista placed Steve’s cup of coffee on the table. 

Shaking her head to clear it of the fog that had gathered when he kissed her, Darcy took another fortifying sip of her drink and then put the cup down carefully on the table. “So what brings you here?” 

Steve shrugged, leaning back in his chair and grinning at her, his manner so relaxed that Darcy couldn’t help but smile at him in return. “Needed a ride; the house is a little crowded. Was hoping I’d see you.” 

Blushing again, Darcy swallowed nervously, doing her best not to make the fact she was ogling him too obvious. He was a _very_ fine specimen, would give Thor a very good run for his money, and he made her think about things that she often thought about but never really considered doing! “Nice bike,” she finally stated, nodding her head in the direction of his gleaming Harley. 

“Thanks,” he responded, grinning as he took a large gulp of his coffee, eyes closing momentarily as he appreciated the sweetness of it on his tongue. “Want a ride?” 

Darcy’s eyes lit up at the offer, and for a brief moment Steve thought she had a very familiar gleam in her eyes; then it was gone. “On my own?” she asked, her tone calculating, “or with you?” 

“That’s way too big a monster for a little thing like you to handle, doll,” he informed her with a smirk on his lips - relieved that Natasha wasn’t around to hear him say something that would end with a bloody nose, “I was thinking maybe we could go out to the lake, make a day of it.” 

The thought of riding the Harley, _and_ a chance to get all kinds of close to Steve for a legit reason made Darcy’s grin grow; she picked up her coffee and drained the cup in a matter of seconds, then hurriedly packed her things in the backpack she’d brought with her. “So what are we waiting for?” 

Steve wasn’t quite so speedy, taking a few more tastes of his coffee before leaving the cup on the table, still half-full. He stood up and leaned in, brushing his thumb over her top lip before bending to whisper in her ear, “No hurry, sweetness, it’s not going anywhere.” Allowing for her sudden distraction, he reached down to take Darcy’s bag from suddenly numb fingers, wrapped his free hand around her wrist and guided her from the café, waving at the barista as the door closed behind them. 

~*~ 

It was past dusk when Steve finally drove onto Darcy’s driveway and switched the engine off. Darcy slid off the back of the bike and stood awkwardly beside it, fidgeting with the strap of the helmet he’d loaned her, feeling a little unsure of what she should do next. “I had an amazing day,” she said, her voice a little breathless, as she finally found something to do, pulling her backpack from under the seat. “That bike is amazing.” 

His eyes never leaving hers, Steve swung his leg over the bike and leaned back against the seat, his legs spread. Lips tilted in a half-grin, he took the helmet from her fingers and dropped it to the ground where it fell with a thud to the ground at their feet, then hooked a finger in the waistband of her jeans and tugged her close. “Good night,” he murmured as he cupped her chin and closed his mouth over hers, stealing her breath. Shocked into speechlessness, Darcy squeaked, giving Steve the opportunity he’d been hoping for, to slip his tongue between her lips, stroking it along the roof of her mouth until she sighed and responded eagerly, her fingers tangling in the short hairs at the nape of his neck and her breasts pressing into his chest as she tried to get closer. 

Darcy was unable to stifle the moan that left her as Steve moved his hands down her arms and curled them around her hips, pulling her tight between his legs, showing her that he was far from unaffected by their embrace. “So sweet,” he murmured, before pressing a line of kisses along the line of her jaw and down her throat, sucking the delicate skin at the curve of her shoulder into his mouth. 

Breathless, her mind clouded with the need coiling like a tense spring in her stomach, Darcy moaned, “You’re going to leave a mark,” she told him, her fingernails lightly digging into the supple leather of his jacket at his shoulders, her head tipping to one side to invite further touches. 

“Wear a scarf,” he responded, his hands tightening on her hips for a moment before moving to the waistband of her jeans and slipping underneath the hem of her t-shirt to stroke at the smooth skin of her stomach. “I want to see,” he whispered against the skin of her throat, moving back a little to look at her; her blue eyes were glazed, her pupils large and her cheeks coloured with a healthy rose-glow. He could hear the pounding of her heart as it beat in her chest and was unable to look away from her as she struggled to get her breathing under control. “You liked that,” he grinned, licking his lips and enjoying the way her eyes followed the movement. She tugged on his hair and leaned down for another kiss; feeling slightly more confident. 

With a quiet growl, Steve tugged her until she was straddling one firm thigh; he could feel the heat of her through her jeans and he wanted nothing more than to touch it, to feel her unravel beneath his questing touch. Distracting her by nipping at her ear, one hand curved around her ass, he tugged her until she was almost riding his leg, the crotch of her jeans digging into his muscle. “Steve,” she moaned when he determinedly helped her to ride his thigh for a moment, making sure he put enough pressure on her clit that she could see stars. 

“Tomorrow night,” he murmured against the curve of her breast. Darcy carded her fingers through his hair and tugged a little when he nipped lightly at her flesh with his teeth. 

“Hmmm,” she moaned in agreement, lifting one leg until she could wrap it around his hip. 

He struggled to keep a tiny bit of his brain clear of the haze he was quickly sinking into, nibbling a path from her breasts and along the delicate arch of her neck to her full lips. “I want to take you on a date,” he informed her, his hands squeezing her waist before slipping again to curve around her ass. 

“Hmmm,” Darcy moaned again; had she been aware of more than the way he was touching her she would, no doubt, have been embarrassed by her complete lack of coherence, but right now she couldn’t find it in herself to care. 

He rarely cursed some of the super-senses he’d been gifted with after the serum, but right now he hated the fact that he could smell the thick scent of her arousal as she arched against him, her breasts pressing into his chest as she struggled to get closer, to ease a little of the ache that his touch had caused. With a half smirk on his face, he deftly unbuttoned her fly with one hand, brushing his warm fingers over the cotton of her panties. Darcy gasped when she felt him touching her so intimately, the pad of his thumb pressing against the bud of her clit. He lifted her up and pulled her closer, enjoying the sound of her breathing as she struggled to maintain some control. “I’ve got you,” he murmured against her skin as he made to slide his fingers beneath the elastic riding high on her thigh. 

“Whoa…” she told him, the shock of his touch helping her regain some of her senses. She pressed her hands against his shoulders. “What’s the rush?” 

For a moment he looked contrite; he quickly fastened her fly and then moved his hands up her body, following the curve of her waist and up her arms, spreading a wave of heat over her chilled flesh, until he reached her face, cupping her cheeks with trembling hands. He leaned in and brushed a light kiss to her lips. “Okay, doll, we’ll take it slow,” he murmured against her cheek, breathing in the light scent of citrus that she always wore. 

He nibbled a path along the line of her jaw to her ear and sucked one lobe into his mouth, teasing the sensitive flesh until Darcy moaned again, the sound sending a shock right through his body to his already hard cock and causing him to shudder and tug her, unresisting, closer to the ache she was causing. 

“Steve, we can’t do this here,” she told him, pushing lightly against his chest, attempting to ignore the way his muscles rippled under her touch, desperate for some breathing space. 

He shook his head to clear a little of the fuzziness from his mind, and used one shaky hand to tuck a springy tendril of her soft hair behind her ear. “Maybe later,” he told her, finally leaning back against his bike and stuffing his hands into his pockets. 

Feeling more than a little uncomfortable and incredibly unprepared for how the evening had gone, Darcy pulled her jacket tightly around her body and wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to make herself as a small as possible. She wished that she was more confident, that she knew how to act when in this sort of situation, but she’d grown up very sheltered and despite giving off a very “party girl” vibe, she was anything but. She’d spent most of her teenage years either working or sitting in the library, determined to prove the mean kids wrong when they said that she was a pregnancy statistic waiting to happen just because of the way she looked. 

“I’m sorry,” she finally mumbled, her cheeks flushed, the expression on her face screaming _I’m embarrassed_ , all of which had Steve baffled; she was a woman in her 20s, in the 21st century, yet everything about the way she was currently holding herself reminded him of the ‘nice’ girls from his old neighbourhood, the ones who waited for marriage! 

He felt awkward even thinking it, but he had to know; he didn’t want to hurt her, and right now all he could think about when he was with her was pulling her down onto something soft and taking her until the craving went. He knew he could persuade her, but the image of his mother’s disapproving face in his head, shaking as she ripped Bucky a new one when he’d boasted about playing around with Gloria Meecham after work made him change his mind. After a few moments, he sighed deeply then stood up and wrapped an arm around Darcy’s shoulders, bringing her close to his side. “Come on, Darce, let me see you home.” 

Darcy hoped that her relief wasn’t obvious; she knew that given a few more moments of his intense stare, and the memory of the way he’d been touching her, that she would have given in and invited him out to the pool house, but she would probably have regretted it; things done on impulse had a tendency to bite her so hard on the butt afterwards! 

At the door Steve pulled Darcy into his arms and pressed a light kiss to her forehead, grinning when she lifted her head, obviously expecting more. “Sweet dreams,” he mumbled against her skin before kissing her on the cheek. 

Letting herself into the house quietly, Darcy couldn’t help but touch her cheek and wonder what had happened. She was in a bit of a daze as she made her way quietly through the house, careful not to bump into anything that may alert her nosy parents to her return home. Tiptoeing up the stairs, missing the squeaking third step from the top, she made it to her room and was opening her bedroom door when her mom’s voice echoed down the hallway, “Darcy, you don’t look anywhere near debauched enough...try harder!” 

With a frustrated growl, muttering under her breath about perverted parents, Darcy slammed her bedroom door closed and headed right for the en suite, desperate for a cold shower and a cup of whisky-laced hot chocolate. 

Steve got back to the farm in record time, and the moment he walked through the back door he headed right for the fridge. The entire ride back he’d been mentally berating himself for ignoring all the signs, even though they’d been right there. He needed a beer, even though he knew it wouldn’t have any effect; the taste of the hops on his tongue and the familiarity of the routine would give him time to think about his next move, and enough time for the rustling in the master bedroom to cease so he could go to his bedroom and ease the discomfort that was pressing painfully into the zipper of his jeans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only two more chapters to go...


	6. A real date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Darcy go on the date he asked her on...picnics can be super-steamy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters you recognise are not mine, they are the property of the people at Marvel and Disney.
> 
> As always, huge thanks to my beta team, Palmetto Blue, Glitter and Sweet T.
> 
> I also would like to say a huge thank you to the people who have left feedback and kudos on all the chapters, thank you for making me feel so welcome.

Darcy sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the sparse contents of her wardrobe, feeling a little forlorn. “Oh my God! I’ve got nothing to wear!” she buried her face in her hands for a moment and took a deep breath. “Jane! How could you let me leave without packing something decent to wear?” 

“Remind me who it was, exactly, that told you jeans and a couple of tops did not make for the best travel wardrobe?” Jane’s voice blared from the phone Darcy had flung frustratedly onto the bed, her voice imparting a considerable amount of amusement at her friend’s dilemma. 

“You,” Darcy groaned. “But I was just coming home,” she almost whined. 

“Okay Darce, take a breath,” Jane wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding her amusement at Darcy’s clothing dilemma. “Why don’t you just wear whatever you’re comfortable in?” 

“I can’t,” Darcy stated as she rifled through her minimal collection of clothing again as if doing so would magically make something different appear; she really wished that she’d taken just a little more care when packing. “He has a Harley, Jane. A Harley!” she said the words on a rather dramatic sigh. 

“And?” Jane asked, with all the understanding of a girl who had zero fascination in motorcycles in any form. 

“Why didn’t I just empty my closet?” Annoyed, she took a picture of the clothes hanging haphazardly around the room and sent it to Jane. “Seriously, Janey, what am I going to wear?” 

“You’re such a drama queen,” Jane sighed loudly and then hmm’d contemplatively. “What about the dress with all the flowers on it?” 

Having flung herself face first on the bed, and doing her best impression of an ostrich with her head in the sand, Jane’s words took a little time to get through. “Huh?” She sat up and started looking for said dress. “What dress?” 

“Next to the bright green Hulk t-shirt. Darcy, I really don’t get your obsession with superhero t-shirts. The multi-coloured thing? That looks okay, right?” 

“Jane, you truly are a genius,” Darcy declared, as she found the dress that Jane was talking about and held it up against herself for a moment to study her reflection in the mirror on the back of the door. “This is perfect. I can’t believe I forgot I had this.” She picked up her phone and held it to her ear, “I’ll call later, okay? Miss you tons,” she declared emphatically before hanging up and dropping the phone onto the bed. “Right; now to make me look a little less flustered.” 

~*~ 

“A picnic?” Clint spluttered, disbelieving. “You’re taking a date for a picnic?” He couldn’t mask the amusement in his voice. “Steve, we’re in the 21st century, girls expect to be romanced; taken for expensive meals and things,” he watched as Steve stuffed his wallet in the back pocket of his jeans and reached for his leather jacket. 

“So says the man who wooed me with a date to a drive thru and make-out point in a rusted-up old truck,” Laura chimed in as she entered the room, a sleepy Nathan cradled against her side. 

“See,” Clint grinned at Steve and then winked at his wife, “Romantic!” 

Chuckling at his friend’s antics, Steve shrugged on the jacket and picked up the keys to the Harley, “I don’t think that Darcy’ll have any complaints about what I have planned.” 

“Is that the Lewis girl?” Laura asked as she put the kettle on to boil and started to make up a bottle for Nathan. 

“The busty brunette?” Clint asked, nodding with approval when Steve simply grinned. “Nice one, Cap!” he gave a hearty two-thumbs-up, ignoring his wife’s glare in his direction. 

“Don’t you listen to Clint, Steve. Darcy’s a lovely girl, and a picnic is perfect.” Briefly scowling at her husband, she handed him their son and a bottle and ushered him in the direction of the living room couch. “You shut up and feed your son,” she told him before turning to study Steve. “Have you got everything you need?” she asked as she made quick work of tidying away the lunch things. 

“Don’t forget the condoms,” Clint called from the couch. “Kids are great, but I don’t think we need a mini super soldier running around anytime soon.” 

A faint blush high on his cheeks as he’d totally forgotten all about that vital part of his plans, Steve headed back to his room, pulled a strip of condoms from his backpack and folded them into the inside pocket of his jacket. He wasn’t about to admit to Clint that he’d been thinking about little more than getting Darcy out of her panties for days. 

When he returned to the family room, Laura was leaning against Clint with a sleeping Nathan resting on her chest, his knees tucked up under his body and his thumb in his mouth. Steve leaned over the back of the couch and smoothed his fingers through Nate’s hair before heading for the door. 

“Have a good time, Steve,” Laura told him, “but don’t do anything that’ll cause our neighbours to come visiting with a shotgun.” 

With a grin and a quick salute, Steve walked out of the house, careful to close the door quietly behind him. 

~*~ 

Darcy was clearly nervous; she was picking at the fringed edge of her purse, glancing out of the window every few minutes. Helen watched her from the dining table with a grin on her face, “Sweetheart, there’s no need to be so nervous.” She walked into the lounge and sat down on the couch, curling an arm around her daughter’s shoulder and tugging her until her head was resting against her mom’s shoulder. “What has you so freaked? Seriously, honey, you don’t get a hickey like that from playing Scrabble.” 

Darcy put a hand to the mark on her neck and blushed; she’d done her best to cover it with make-up, but it had proved less than easy to hide. “I’m sure he’ll love seeing it, though,” Helen murmured, her tone thoughtful. “Men like to see their marks. Your father was the same.” For a moment she had a wistful expression on her face, but it soon passed and she looked down at her daughter fondly. 

“And that was something I really _didn’t_ need to know,” Darcy mumbled. The topic of her dad wasn’t one that often came up; he’d been a passing fling when Helen had been 18, a passionate and intense weekend when she’d gone to visit a friend studying at Harvard before heading back to Penn State after Christmas break. Darcy knew most of the story, but it had never been important; Helen was her mom and Will had always been her dad, even if they didn’t share any genetic code. 

Helen bussed a kiss across Darcy’s forehead and laughed; the subject of her teenage pregnancy wasn’t something they needed to discuss just before a date; it was far too serious and a total mood crusher. “You can lose your head, Darcy, just as long as you protect your heart.” 

Grinning, Darcy hugged her mom tightly for a moment and then stood up to straighten her dress and check that her already unruly hair hadn’t decided to completely rebel against the few pins she was using to keep the loose twists in place. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of silver and black and the low purr of the Harley’s engine as it slowed to a stop on the street. 

“You definitely inherited my taste in men, honey; he’s something to look at.” Sometimes Darcy forgot that her mom wasn’t that much older than her, and then she said something like that and it was difficult to ignore. 

“Mo-om…” Darcy whined as she headed to the front door, eager to get there before a ringing doorbell sent the dogs insane and they got hairs all over her dress in their determination to greet a new person. She pulled the door open, a smile gracing her face as she took in Steve in a pair of jeans, another body-hugging t-shirt and the ever-present leather jacket. Feeling a little self-conscious, she tugged on the hem of her dress and looked up at him through coal-black lashes. “Hi,” she finally managed to get out. “You look nice.” 

Steve took a moment to take in the picture that Darcy made and gave her a soft smile, “Then I’m a perfect partner for you,” he told her. “You look lovely.” 

Conscious that her mom was watching them, however discreetly, from the kitchen doorway, Darcy stood on tiptoe and, feeling a little confident, pressed a kiss to his lips, sighing when he wrapped his arms around her and made her forget that anyone could see them. 

Steve hated the fact that he was so nervous. The entire ride over he’d been unable to think about much other than the condoms burning a metaphorical hole in his jacket pocket. He curled an arm around Darcy’s shoulders and walked with her down the driveway, bending his head and breathing in the coconut scent of her shampoo. “I thought we’d head into town and get some food and then go over to the butterfly park for a picnic. Unless you’d rather do something else?” He sucked in a deep breath and hoped that the plans he’d come up with were acceptable; he knew that some girls would much rather go for a flashy meal. He looked at the dress Darcy was wearing and then at his bike, wondering if perhaps his plans were a little impractical. “We could take your car?” 

With a grin, Darcy picked up the helmet from the back of his bike and pulled it on, she then quickly buttoned up her jean jacket. “Are you kidding?” 

“If I didn’t know for a fact that you admire my ass,” he chuckled, “Then I’d be worried that you only wanted me for my bike.” 

“Give me a little time and I’m sure I’ll come up with something,” she told him. “C’mon, what’re you waiting for?” 

The feel of her arms wrapped around him as they rode into town made him wonder why he hadn’t ever used his bike as a date-mobile before; the way that her body moulded to his back, the sensation of her warm breath on his skin, had him fighting against the sudden desire to ditch the picnic food and head straight for the hoped-for fun on the thick plaid woollen blanket he’d borrowed from Laura and stashed in one of the panniers earlier. 

~*~ 

Food eaten and trash thrown in the nearby trash can, Steve pulled Darcy close and wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from the cool breeze that was washing over the lake. The butterfly park had been pretty, but way too full of nosy busy-bodies to be somewhere he could woo Darcy into letting him see more than he had the night before. 

They had wandered through the flower-filled park for a while before heading to the almost empty and tree-lined lake-side park; the lights had flared to life as the sun set and the faint chirrup of crickets could be heard above the thump of his heart in his chest. 

Darcy was just enjoying being in Steve’s arms; he was just holding her, his breath on her neck, the strength of his body acting as a shelter protecting her from the light evening chill. She snuggled against him, her small hands covering his where they rested on her stomach, and she turned her head to nuzzle his collarbone, pressing her lips against his warm skin. 

“So,” his voice was a rumble in her ear, “Tell me all about Darcy.” 

A small smile on her face she closed her eyes for a moment as she considered what she could tell him; there was so much that had been buried beneath streaks of black marker and sheaths of NDAs, and the rest wasn’t really all that interesting. “Well, what do you want to know?” 

“I already know that you have the softest lips,” he told her, brushing a thumb along her bottom lip before lowering his head and sucking said lip into his mouth for a moment. “I know that you smell like coconut,” he wrapped a curl of her hair around his fingers. “And I know that you make me burn…” He stroked his fingers along her cheek and lowered his mouth to hers again, drawing a moan from her which had his heart pounding madly in his chest. “C’mere,” he groaned, lifting her and guiding her to straddle his lap, pressing her as close as was possible with their clothes on. 

As he felt the heat of her rubbing against him he found himself thanking God that she was wearing a dress; it made things so much easier. He played with the spaghetti straps of her dress for a moment before pushing one down her arm. “I don’t want to rush this,” he murmured against the slope of her bare shoulder, his breath sending shivers up her spine. 

“There’s no hurry,” she breathed out on a sigh as his tongue trailed a path of heat up to the sensitive skin behind her ear. “They don’t do patrols out here in the summer.” The last word left her on a gasp as Steve pushed the top of her dress down completely to reveal the cream lace and cotton corset she was wearing beneath it. 

Steve swallowed, and could feel his jeans becoming more uncomfortable; she truly was a pin-up girl come to life, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning back a little to study her. “Wow,” he managed to utter, the word coming out a little higher in pitch than he had intended. She was stunning, though he could tell from the expression on her face, the way that she wasn’t meeting his eyes, and the dark blush high on her cheeks, that she doubted her appeal. “You look beautiful,” he finally managed to get out, “I’m feeling so lucky right now.” Lucky was an understatement; he felt like his whole body was going to incinerate at any minute. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths in order to regain some semblance of control; if he was right about Darcy, that a lot of her flirtation was an act, then he didn’t want to frighten her off. 

He cupped her chin in one hand and raised her face until their eyes met, “Are you sure?” He hated that he had to ask, but his conscience was almost screaming at him that he didn’t want her to regret this; they both knew that this wasn’t going to go anywhere, but he didn’t want to be someone that used her and rushed off into the sunset either. 

Her breath released on a quiet giggle. “You must be the only guy in the universe who would actually ask that,” she told him, curling her hands around his wrists and guiding them down to the curve of her breasts. “I want this...I want _you_.” 

Time seemed to slow to a halt at that moment; he helped her to undo the laces at the back of the corset and the moment her pale skin was revealed he bent his head to press a line of kisses to the firm flesh of one breast, before sucking the taut nipple between his teeth. Darcy bit her lip to prevent the cry she knew was desperate for release. She curved her hands over his shoulders and shuffled a little closer, pressing her aching core against him in an effort to ease the build of pressure she could feel inside her. The feel of his mouth on her breast, sucking on her nipple while one hand curved around her waist and his other hand teased and rubbed across her other sensitive breast made her feel like she was going to explode. “Steve,” she gasped out as white light built behind her eyes and imploded on a scream she muffled against his shoulder, her teeth biting into the firm muscle. 

Steve couldn’t help but feel a little proud of himself when he felt Darcy shudder against him and then bite into his shoulder. He stroked his fingers through her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead, “Are you all right?” he asked her, unable to stop smiling. 

“Wow, that is _so_ much better than playing by myself.” She managed a giggle, though it was a little breathless, and her face was flushed, sweat glistening on her hairline. 

At the sight of her looking so relaxed, Steve felt the last of his doubts melt away; he reached for his jacket - which had been discarded much earlier - and pulled the strip of condoms from the pocket. “Wow,” she said, her tone amazed. “Either you’ve got loads of stamina, or you plan on us being here for a while.” She took one of the foil wrappers from his hand and made quick work of opening it. “Can I put it on?” She reached for his zipper and tugged it down carefully, her face flushing a deeper red when the swollen head of his cock sprung free. 

Steve moaned in relief as some of the pressure was eased, a smug grin on his face when he noticed the way that she was staring at him, the tip of her pink tongue poking between her lips; he then closed his eyes as Darcy’s small hands closed around his erection, and she rolled the slick rubber down his length. 

~*~ 

Steve woke up slowly, the chill of night causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. He tugged his jacket up around his shoulders and nuzzled his face in the mass of curls that had fallen around Darcy’s face sometime during the evening. Giving up on sleep he looked down at her as she snuggled against him, her back pressed tightly against his chest, her hands wrapped around his as she held them to her breasts. Her breath was a gentle caress against his skin and he chuckled quietly as she snuffled and muttered something incomprehensible before settling again. 

Carefully moving away from her, after loosening her grip on his hands, he headed over to his bike and pulled the sketch pad and pencils from the saddlebags then walked back over to their little spot under the tree. She looked so peaceful and, scarily to him, so young. He sat beside her, crossed his legs and carefully traced the lines of her body onto the paper. Over the last few days they’d taken enough photos to fill a few albums, but right now, at this moment, there was nothing but them and his pad and the silvery rays of moonlight piercing the darkness casting an eerie glow over the park.


	7. Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are hotting up back in NYC, and the end of summer is coming far quicker than either of them could have anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the final chapter. I hope that you all enjoy.
> 
> These characters are not mine, they are the property of Marvel and Disney.
> 
> I would like to say a final thanks to my betas, Palmetto Blue, Glitter, and Sweet T, as well as a thank you to all of you who have left kudos and comments.

When she was a kid, Darcy had actually hated the long summer vacation. After a couple of weeks she’d be longing for the smell of black marker on a whiteboard, and endless assignments. As an adult, summers were never long enough, especially when you were doing your utmost to avoid making a decision, and the hottie that never really lived next door actually moved into town. 

Darcy had been living in a bit of a sex-induced haze for the last week and found that she liked it. Steve was being incredibly patient and they were both enjoying their time, learning new things, experimenting, and getting to know what felt good, and what felt amazing. 

She was lying on her bed enjoying a moment of post-coital daydreaming when her happy thoughts were disturbed by her cell phone ringing loudly beneath the pillow she was lying on. She reluctantly sat up and brought the phone to her ear, “‘lo?” 

“Darce...Darce, you’ve got to come back. Why haven’t you come back yet?” Jane sounded just a little bit drunk. 

“I haven’t said yes yet, Janey,” Darcy replied, trying her hardest to smother the giggle rising in her throat. 

“Are you busy having lots and lots of naughty sex with Harley man?” the scientist stage-whispered down the phone, which meant that anyone in the room with her could clearly hear it. 

“Jane…” she could still hear her friend’s drunken giggles as she muttered something to whoever was in the room with her about sex and men with motorbikes. “Jane...why did you call?” 

“Wanted to tell you that I need you to come back, Darcy. We have a ma-assive apartment and loads of space…” Darcy heard Jane stumble over something and then the sound of the phone being juggled before Jane’s voice came back, a little breathless, “Darce, I miss you.” Great, now she’d reached the maudlin part of being drunk! 

“Janey, did you drink on an empty stomach?” Even a thousand miles away Darcy couldn’t switch off her ‘Jane Care Radar’; that woman needed a 24-hour babysitter! 

“When’re you coming back, Darcy? We have a nice lab ‘n ev’rything,” she giggled again and Darcy found herself missing her friend a little bit more than she would ever admit. “I miss you.” 

Deep down Darcy knew that she was always going to accept the offer, she just needed to give herself a bit of time away from the insanity to weigh up the options and decide for herself. “I miss you too, Janey. Now take some aspirin, drink a big glass of water and tell that big blond lug of yours to put you to bed. I’ll call tomorrow.” 

“Promise?” Jane asked, after what sounded like a jaw-splitting yawn. 

“Promise,” she replied before disconnecting the call. 

Frustrated that her chill had been so unfairly interrupted by her bizarre reality, Darcy quickly scrolled through the contacts on her phone and clicked on Steve. “Hi…” she said quietly when he picked up. 

~*~ 

Steve didn’t really like talking about his past - or his present - but they still found things to talk about; he was fascinated with art and could talk about it endlessly, he also loved telling tales about his friend’s kids. Darcy shared as much as she could about her work with Jane, without revealing all the weird and wonderful that went with it. Neither of them spoke about what would happen at the end of the summer though Darcy knew that saying goodbye wouldn’t be easy, and she dreaded it. 

Steve had been ignoring calls from Fury and Tony for the last three days, but when Clint handed him a thick manila envelope that had been hand-delivered while he was out on another ‘drive’ with Darcy he knew that he couldn’t hide from his responsibilities any longer. “Think you should see this,” Clint told him, standing over him as he opened it. 

He knew, even before he saw what was inside, that his summer of being normal was over. 

Upending the envelope, he tipped the contents out onto the table and was unsurprised to see a brand new Stark phone, though he was stunned to see a whole series of photos, some grainy, some much clearer, and all of them of Bucky. It was clear that they were telling him it was time to head back to the city. He was staring at one of the more in-focus shots when the phone in his back pocket vibrated and Darcy’s face appeared on the screen. For a moment his thumb hovered over the decline button, but right now he needed to hear something to make him smile. He swiped the screen and accepted the call just as Clint quietly left the room. “Hey…” 

~*~ 

They were sitting wrapped around each other in the only semi-private booth at the diner two towns over, enjoying what Darcy had promised was the “best combo ever”, salty fries dipped in a thick vanilla shake, when Steve finally broached the subject that’d had him quiet and pensive for the last hour. “I’m leaving in a few days; I got a call and I’ve got to head back.” 

Darcy wasn’t quite sure what he expected her to say, so she simply looked at him and placed her small hand - with the glittery purple nail polish on - over his larger one and squeezed, forcing a smile. “Oh well, when the real world calls it’s not like you can put it through to voicemail,” she attempted to joke, even though she could feel a ball of regret forming in the pit of her stomach at the realisation that this little slice of something they’d found was almost over. “Damn the real world,” she murmured as he leaned in and covered her mouth with his, stroking his tongue against hers before pulling away to stare at her intently. 

“We’d better make the most of it then,” he whispered against her mouth, the words sending a shiver of anticipation down her spine. 

She closed her eyes for a moment, and sighed, “I can’t believe I’m actually uttering such a cliché, but my parents are over at my aunt’s in Sheldon tonight and won’t be back until tomorrow.” She looked up at him and brushed a kiss across the whorl of his ear before whispering, “We’d have the place completely to ourselves, and a bed!” It wasn’t that the field, the car, the hayloft at the Barton farm, hadn’t been fun, but none of that was a bed with squeaky springs and a headboard! 

Steve couldn’t help but grin; he’d never had the opportunity to be the boy sneaking into his girl’s bedroom before, and the fact that he’d had to wait until he was nearly 100 for it to happen had him smothering a chuckle. “So what’re we waiting for?” He stood up, dropped a couple of bills on the table and dragged her out of the booth, his hand low on her back as he hurried them both over to his bike. 

~*~ 

Darcy’s bedroom was just like her, a mass of contrasting things; on one wall there was a creative display of 1940s propaganda posters, including one emblazoned with his own face; on another was a small cabinet full of trophies from various school competitions - debate, science (this one surprised him), an award for something to do with computers and design, and buried underneath all of that was a diploma from Carnegie Mellon. He made a mental note to check out the latter much later; there was obviously a lot that she wasn’t sharing, and the way she talked about her school, he could’ve sworn she’d mentioned Poli-Sci and Culver several times! The floor was littered with discarded shoes, a couple of brightly coloured slogan-covered t-shirts that he recognised, and a few well-thumbed paperbacks. 

“Ignore everything,” she told him as she kicked off her shoes under the bed and quickly swept a small collection of stuffed animals from the mound of pillows by the headboard. She walked over to stand in front of him, running her fingers down his chest. “So,” she started. 

“So…” he responded, trailing one hand down her arm and grinning at her. 

“Where do you want me?” The last words were released on a sigh as Steve curved his hands around her thighs and lifted her up, walking them over to the door. 

“Right here,” he finally responded, nudging the short black skirt up her legs and pressing one hand against the heat between her legs. He closed his eyes when she leaned her head back against the door and groaned, thrusting her hips against his hand in an effort to increase the pressure and release a little more of the tension that had started to build. 

“Steve, please,” she pleaded as he continued to rub her through her tights; he knew that he was teasing her and that she was close. 

“What do you want, Darcy?” he growled grazing the delicate skin of her breasts with his beard. 

“I need…” the words melting into a moan, and a rush of damp heat soaked through her panties, coating his fingers. He loved the way that her eyes darkened and her skin flushed as she reached the zenith. 

Her legs were shaking when he released them and dropped her to the floor. She leaned back against the door and stood, smiling, her eyes dark with lust and her heartbeat pounding loudly in her veins. He bent down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then lifted her chin with one finger, staring into her eyes, brushing his lips across hers and along the line of her chin. “You’re amazing,” he told her, taking his time unbuttoning her shirt and pushing it off her shoulders, leaving her wearing a pale pink bra, black skirt, and tights. “Bed,” he said, as he guided her, walking backwards across the room, stumbling only a couple of times on the various items Darcy seemed determined to leave on the floor. 

He pushed her down on the mattress, and couldn’t help but laugh when she giggled as she bounced. He knelt on the edge of the bed and tugged down her skirt, quickly discarding it on the floor behind him. “I love when you wear stuff like this,” he muttered as he pulled down her tights and panties, biting back a groan when he noticed the delicate pale pink pair of panties complete with little blue bow that matched the bra perfectly. She rested on her elbows, watching his every move, fascinated. 

"I want to feel you wrap your legs around me, Darcy, and pull me so close." He moaned when she pushed her hands between them and undid the button of his fly and then pulled down the zip. "You make me ache," he murmured the words against her breasts before unsnapping the catch at her back, pulling the bra off carefully, and dropping it to the floor. He tilted his head and sucked one puckered nipple into his mouth, biting the tender skin gently, the sound of her groan music to his ears. 

"Oh God!" Her arms were no longer strong enough to support her as she started to shiver, the pleasure of his touch rolling over her. She collapsed back on the bed as Steve started to kiss his way down her body, his tongue circling her navel, causing her to giggle, then moving even further downward. He pressed a gentle kiss to the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh and then breathed on it, loving the way that she squirmed beneath his touch. She arched upward, thrusting her hips toward his searching mouth. "Steve!" she cried out when the tip of his tongue circled her clit. She speared her hands through his hair and curled her legs over his shoulders, pulling him even closer. He thrust two fingers inside her, twisting them as she gasped for breath, her whole body moving against his hands and mouth as he continued to stroke her with his tongue, caressing her, driving her ever closer to the edge of sanity. 

“No,” she whimpered when he pulled away, moving her legs gently from his shoulders and massaging her thighs as he moved between them. “Don’t stop,” she pleaded, thrusting her hips upward in the hope he’d continue. The feel of his strong tongue as it lapped against her clit had made her forget herself so many times over the last few weeks. She knew that when the time came she was going to miss many things about their encounter, and _that_ was definitely near the top of the list. The tip of his cock bumped against her clit and she was sure that her eyes crossed. 

“I’m not finished with you yet,” he told her, breathless. “Condom?” 

She reached into the top drawer of her nightstand and pulled a couple of packages out of the box she’d bought a few days before at the mall in Rochester; she believed in being prepared, but hadn’t wanted to share her personal business with everyone in town. Being honest she had no doubt that half of their neighbours already knew what she and Steve were up to, but thinking they knew and _knowing_ they knew were two very different things. 

Handing him the packet she watched as he tore it open and rolled it down over his length, licking her lips when he wrapped one hand around his cock and stroked it firmly a few times before moving back between her thighs; one hand curved around her left thigh as he shifted, nudging against her. 

Darcy dug her blunt fingernails into the muscles of his shoulders and opened her mouth on a silent scream as he slid slowly inside her. The feel of his rigid length stretching her only a momentary discomfort before the rock of his hips against hers had her writhing beneath him, a mass of sensitive nerve-endings. 

“You feel so good, so tight,” Steve groaned against the sweat-dampened curve of her neck, nibbling at the flesh, and grinning when he realised he’d left another mark; licking a trail up to her earlobe and sucking it into his mouth. 

He reached one hand between them and stroked lightly down her stomach until he reached the curls between her thighs, curving one finger inward and brushing the callused pad of his thumb against her throbbing clit to tease it, sending her even higher. He could feel her shuddering beneath him, hear her gasps for breath as she struggled to gain control of her body, but he wanted her to forget herself, then arch against him and beg for release. 

“So close…” she moaned, her hands now clutching desperately at the sheets beneath them as she twisted, arching her hips against his, her pussy clenching around his cock as he rocked inside her; shallow thrusts that were making her breathless. “Steve, please…” Darcy shivered beneath him, her whole body tensing for a single moment before she relaxed, a wide smile on her face, her eyes only half-open. 

With one hand curved around her ass he lifted her against him, grunting as he shuddered uncontrollably against her, his hot breath slowing against her cheek as his cock softened inside her and he slipped into a light sleep. 

His body was heavy on hers, but Darcy liked the way he felt against her; she wrapped her arms around him and savoured the feel of him against her until he snuffled and rolled over, and the cool evening air had her reaching for the throw she’d kicked to the bottom of the bed. 

~*~ 

Steve couldn’t switch his brain off; he was angry and frustrated that his vacation was over just as he was finally starting to let loose and relax. Meeting Darcy had been the best thing that had happened to him since he’d been defrosted; she made him laugh, made him forget everything he’d left the city to avoid, and the feel of her body curled against his helped him to find a little of the peace he’d been seeking for months. Knowing that this was all about to come to an end made him feel restless. He lay back on Darcy’s bed staring at the ceiling, his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly to him. 

Twice more during the night Steve woke Darcy with a light kiss to the curve of her shoulder, his hands between her legs teasing her to wakefulness, his body pressed close to hers. He finally managed to doze off just as the sun started to rise, casting a rose-gold glow into the room. 

The insistent buzzing of his phone woke him long before he was ready; he could’ve sworn he’d switched the thing off the night before, to prevent any interruptions, but no doubt Stark had put some stupid failsafe in place that gave him the ability to override anything. Reluctantly he bent his head and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent that he’d come to associate uniquely as hers. He untangled himself from around her as carefully as he could, determined not to wake her, and reached down the side of the bed for his jeans, pulling the phone out of the pocket. Checking the screen he groaned quietly when he noticed that there were five missed calls and seven messages. It looked like things had changed overnight. 

_\-- Capsicle, wheels up at 9am, Barton’s farm_

_\-- Cap, you better not be ignoring me!!!_

_\-- You better have a really good reason for ignoring me! Preferably blonde and stacked!!_

He watched, with a smile, as Darcy rolled over in the bed, starfished, and kicked off the thin summer sheets. Her camisole had ridden up a little and he was unable to resist leaning over and pressing a kiss to the skin revealed. Before he could find another reason to ignore what constituted, in Tony’s terms, a summons, he snapped a picture of Darcy - she looked so peaceful, and the relaxed look on her face would help remind him what he was fighting for - then quickly pulled on his jeans, unhooked his jacket from the back of the closet, and headed for the bedroom door. He stood in the doorway for a moment, regretting that he couldn’t stay longer, then turned. “Goodbye,” he murmured quietly before leaving, making sure not to disturb her or the two large dogs asleep in the living room. Darcy woke at the sound of the Harley’s engine roaring to life. She slid out of bed and shuffled across the room to peer out the window, raising an arm to wave farewell, but it was already too late. Steve had already pulled out onto the road and the roar of the bike was quickly becoming a dull background rumble like a fading storm. 

She knew, without him saying a word, that he wasn’t coming back. Though she’d known from the start that this was never going to be anything more than a fling, it didn’t stop a lump from forming in her throat and tears from rolling, unchecked, down her cheeks. She sniffed loudly and wiped angrily at the tears with the back of her hand. “Stupid,” she berated herself. “You knew it wasn’t going anywhere.” 

She sat down at her desk and waited for her laptop to boot up. Now that her distraction was gone, there was nothing stopping her from making a few decisions and no reason to postpone it any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it!


End file.
